The beast inside of me
by Skovko
Summary: Roman has changed and Dean therefore follows him to figure out what's going on. He finds Roman beating up a woman in a warehouse and he doesn't think but just acts. He beats up Roman and gets the woman out of there, completely ignoring the warning Roman shouts after him. A warning he should have listened to. (Inspired by the song "Cage The Beast" by Adelitas Way.)
1. Dangerous

Dean sat in his car, staring at the old warehouse. It used to be a candle factory but it closed down many years ago and had been abandoned since. Why on earth would Roman go there and who was the woman who had been in Roman's car? He had been supporting her into the warehouse. She had been walking but her feet had been dragging a bit.

It wasn't Dean's proudest moment to follow Roman secretly but Roman had been acting weird for a while now, ever since he met a woman named Neith. At first he was always one big smile when talking about her but shortly after he stopped mentioning her at all and when Dean had tried asking, he had just been told not to dig further into it. Could that mysterious woman disappearing into the warehouse next to Roman be Neith?

"You're losing it, Dean. So what if he has a girlfriend you don't know about and so what if they're out here in the middle of fucking nowhere? Doesn't have to mean anything," he talked to himself.

He should turn around and drive away but something about it just didn't sit right with him. Roman had changed, he had been different for months now, and Dean just had to know that everything was alright. He killed the engine, stepped out of the car and walked towards the warehouse.

There wasn't much light to go by but there was enough for him to see where he was stepping. He heard sounds somewhere deeper inside the building. Sounds he wasn't sure he liked. Roman was kind of grunting like he did in the ring when he was fighting. Metallic sounds from a chain maybe. Female grunts as well that sounded like she was trying to hold it within. He followed the sounds until he stepped into a more lit room and his jaw dropped at the sight in front of him.

The woman was on her knees on the cold floor only in her underwear. Her arms were stretched out to the sides and leather straps were locked around her wrists and connected to other chains, making sure she wouldn't be able to get away. She could stand up but that was it. Behind her Roman stood in his pants and boots, sweat dripping down his bare chest while he was whipping her back with a chain. In the background was a bed but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was the scene unfolding in front of Dean's eyes. A scene he couldn't run away from. He flew in fast with a punch to Roman's jaw that sent him straight down to the floor.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Dean screamed as he punched again. "What the fuck are you doing, Roman?"

Roman tried defending himself but Dean was too fast. Several punches rained down and then Dean jumped up and ran to the woman. He undid the leather straps quickly to free her.

"No, wait!" Roman tried.  
"You stay the fuck down if you know what's best for you!" Dean sneered. "What the hell is wrong with you?"  
"You don't understand," Roman tried.  
"You're right about that part," Dean said.

Dean looked around for her clothes but the only item he could see was Roman's discarded shirt. He grabbed it and pressed it into her hands before looking down at Roman again. Roman had managed to get up on his knees and he was spitting out blood.

"Dean, wait," he tried again.  
"You stay the fuck away, Roman! You're sick! You need help!" Dean sneered.  
"You don't understand! Wait!" Roman raised his voice.

Dean looked at her and she was already wearing Roman's shirt that looked like an oversize dress on her. He grabbed her hand and started moving towards the door with her. She followed him without a word and soon they were back out in the other room.

"Dean, wait!" Roman was shouting now. "She's dangerous!"


	2. Drama

"What's your name?" He asked.  
"Neith," she answered.

So she was the woman Roman had talked about months ago when he first met her.

"I'm Dean," he said.  
"I know. I've seen you on tv," she said.

Of course she had. If she was with Roman, of course she had seen them all on tv. He took a couple of deep breaths while trying to figure out how his best friend could have turned into such a sadistic pig.

"Has he been doing that to you before?" He asked.  
"Yes," she answered.  
"That son of a bitch!" He muttered.  
"Where are you taking me?" She asked.  
"I don't know. Do you want me to take you to the police or the hospital?" He asked.  
"No!" She suddenly looked so scared. "No authorities! Please!"

She reached over and grabbed his arm, digging her nails into his skin by accident while she was pleading with him.

"Okay, okay, I won't," he said. "But I can't take you home with me. He'll look there first place. We gotta stay low. I got a week off work to figure something out but unfortunately so does he. We're both off this week."  
"I know," she said.  
"Of course you know. Look, I know a motel that keeps things off the record. We'll go there. I don't know what I'll end up doing but you're not going back to him," he said.  
"Can I have some chips?" She asked.  
"What? Chips? Now?" He looked at her. "Sure, why the fuck not? There's a gas station five minutes away. We'll load up on snacks and coffee there."

After being told what she wanted, he left the car to go shop quickly. When he returned, she was gone. He looked around frantically but he couldn't see her anywhere. His phone started ringing and he pulled it out of his pocket only to see it was Roman. He had tried calling and texting several times. Dean couldn't deal with him in that moment, not after what he had seen, so he turned his phone off completely. He put it back in his pocket and looked up to see her come walking out of the gas station with a little smile on her face.

"I thought you left," he said.  
"Bathroom," she said.  
"You could have told me. You scared me," he said.

She just kept that smile on her face while she got back into the car. He got back in as well, handed her a cup of coffee and then drove to the motel he had been talking about. Once they were inside a motel room, he turned on the tv on a news channel.

"May I see your back?" He asked.

She turned around and pulled up the shirt.

"Fuck!" He blurted out.

He ran his fingers over her back and she hissed in pain.

"Sorry. He's been doing that a lot to you, hasn't he? You got so many scars," he said.  
"Yes," she said.  
"Why is he doing it? Why don't you try and get away from him?" He asked.

He couldn't make any sense out of it and he was hoping she could tell him but the news story suddenly flashing over the screen caught both of their attentions.

 _"Three people were found brutally murdered just five minutes ago at a gas station. All three had been stabbed to death from what we can understand so far. The bodies are currently being carried out of the building as you can see behind me. We're hoping to get a statement from one of the officers on the scene."_

"We were just there," Dean said shocked. "Holy fuck, it must have happened right after we left. Did you see anybody there besides us?"  
"Two women and a man inside," she said.  
"Yes, inside. The three victims. Did you see anyone outside?" He asked.  
"No, just us," she answered.  
"Fuck!" He said.

He sat down on the bed and ran a hand through his hair.

"This day..." He sighed. "I can't deal with anymore drama. I just can't. It's too much."  
"You want me to leave?" She asked.  
"No, Neith, it's not you. You're not to blame for anything. Let's just find a kid's channel and watch My Little Pony or some shit like that and pretend the world is a happy place," he said.


	3. Demons

"Are you full?" He asked.  
"Yes, thank you," she answered.

After falling asleep to a mindless children's show, he had taken her out for breakfast the next morning. It was early and they had found a diner without anyone in there but them and the waitress and cook that were working.

"Ready to go?" He asked.  
"I need to use the bathroom first," she answered.  
"I'll wait in the car," he said.

He sat in the car with the engine running when she came walking out with that same little smile he had seen the night before at the gas station. Somewhere deep inside his stomach turned a bit but he chose to ignore it as she got into the car and they drove back to the motel room.

"Can I go talk to the motel owner?" She asked after a little while of them just staring out in the air.  
"What do you wanna talk with him about?" He asked.  
"I like him," she smiled.  
"Oh, you like him?" He smiled back and chuckled. "Sure, go ahead. I think you could use a decent man in your life."

She giggled and got up from the bed. When she was gone, he turned on the tv to the news channel. He was hoping to hear something about the stabbing from the night before but instead his eyes went wide as he saw the diner they had been on 30 minutes earlier.

 _"The waitress and the cook were found stabbed, similar to the stabbing last night at the gas station. There's reason to believe it's the same killer. If you got any information, the police would like to hear from you."_

"No way! No fucking way!" He said loudly.

This time he couldn't ignore the feeling in his stomach. He turned his phone back on and called Roman. Roman answered after only one ring and he sounded like he had been up all night and he probably had. Dean wouldn't be surprised if Roman had spent the entire night searching for them.

"Where are you?" Roman asked.  
"What the hell's going on, Roman?" Dean asked. "You've seen the news?"  
"Of course I have. I have to try and keep track of her," Roman answered.  
"We were at that gas station last night and I thought it was just a coincidence but we were also at that diner 30 minutes ago and something's not right," Dean said.  
"It's her," Roman sighed.  
"But she was with me. She couldn't do it that fast. Could she? And where would she get a knife from?" Dean asked.  
"Where's your knife?" Roman asked.  
"In the gloves department as always," Dean answered.  
"You sure about that?" Roman asked.

Dean ran to his car and opened the gloves department.

"Fuck!" He shouted.  
"It's gone, isn't it?" Roman asked.  
"What's going on?" Dean almost whimpered.  
"Okay, long story short. I met her at the hospital back when I had my hip x-rayed. I didn't know she had been in a mental institution. They drugged her with pills but they didn't work in the long run. She didn't wanna be this way so she tried upping her doze until she accidently overdozed. That's why she was there that day too," Roman explained.  
"What do you mean this way? What's wrong with her?" Dean asked.  
"I don't know. She doesn't know. No one knows for sure. Maybe she's possessed, maybe she's just fucked up, maybe it's aliens. Whatever! She's got some demons inside and she can't control them," Roman answered.  
"Roman, please, I don't fucking understand," Dean said.  
"She kills, Dean. She's got your knife and she stabbed those people and she's gonna continue unless you bring her back to me," Roman said.  
"What the hell can you do?" Dean asked.  
"What you stopped me from doing last night. You didn't exactly let me explain," Roman answered.  
"Do you have any idea what it looked like from my point of view?" Dean asked.  
"Of course I do but you should know better. Do you actually think I like doing that to her? No! For some fucked up reason neither her or I can explain, I got a calming effect on her. I can hold her down for a while but the demons always come out but we've come to learn I can chase them away by hurting her like that. I don't like it, I don't wanna do it, but I do it because I love her and I don't wanna lose her. Do you understand, Dean? I love her!" Roman said.

Dean shut the car door and leaned his forehead down on the roof of the car. It was all just so much information that he couldn't wrap his head around.

"Where is she now?" Roman broke the silence.  
"Fuck!" Dean shouted again. "She went to talk with the motel owner."  
"He's dead," Roman said.

Dean turned around and came face to face with Neith who stood there with that same smile on her face he had seen twice now. He looked down to see his knife in her hand.

"Neith? Easy there, girl," Dean tried.  
"She's there?" Roman asked.  
"Don't do anything you'll regret. I got Roman right here," Dean pointed at his phone.

She took a step forward and Dean tried to step back but only found himself up against his car.

"Stay there, Neith!" He tried raising his voice.

She took another step forward.

"Neith!" Dean yelled.  
"Put me on speaker!" Roman yelled through the phone.

Dean quickly did as Roman requested, hoping he could somehow get through to her.

"Neith? Can you hear me, huntress?" Roman asked.

She stopped and looked at the phone in Dean's hand.

"Yes," she answered.  
"Don't do it. Don't let the demons take over. Dean's gonna bring you right back to me, okay? Can you hold on a little longer?" He asked.  
"I don't know," she answered.  
"Drop the knife," he said.  
"I don't want to," she said.  
"Drop it, huntress. It's me. I won't let them win. I just need you to push them down for a little longer. I know you can do it," he said.

Five long seconds of silence which felt like an eternity and she finally dropped the knife. Dean quickly picked it up to get it out of her reach.

"What now?" He asked.  
"How far away are you from the warehouse?" Roman asked.  
"45 minutes, an hour maybe," Dean answered.  
"Fucking step on it. I'll meet you there," Roman said. "Neith?"  
"Yes?" She said.  
"I'm counting on you, huntress. Don't hurt Dean. If you hurt him, you'll hurt me. Do you understand?" He asked.  
"Yes," she answered.  
"Just hold on. I'm here for you," he said.

Dean had never driven that fast in his life before. He nervously looked at her from time to time. She was moving around in her seat, not able to find any peace. Her body was shaking more and more the longer they drove and he had never been so happy in his life when he saw the warehouse. Roman stood outside waiting for them. He pulled open the door, wrapped his arms around her and yanked her out of the car. He moved fast into the warehouse and Dean followed silently behind.

Once inside he got her out of the shirt, put the leather straps around her wrists and picked up the chain. He looked at Dean, silently asking his friend if he was sure he wanted to stay and watch. Dean nodded and Roman nodded back before lifting his arm and letting the metal connect with her back. She fell to her knees with a grunt, biting her lip to keep herself from screaming. He continued whipping her back until she finally let go, her piercing scream filling the air and echoing through the building.

And just like that, he dropped the chain as her scream died out, understanding that whatever demons she was battling, they had been forced out for now. He quickly released her from the leather straps, picked her up and carried her to the bed behind him. He laid down with her, holding her, stroking her, kissing her, talking softly while she cried into his chest.

"I got you. You're safe," he said.  
"I'm so sorry, babe," she cried.  
"Ssh, don't think about it, huntress. You're safe again. I'm not letting you go," he said.

Dean took a couple of steps closer, watching as Roman held her and talked her to sleep within a few minutes.

"Thank you, Dean," Roman looked up at him.  
"Yeah, no problem," Dean shook his head at how stupid those words sounded.  
"Listen, I know this is a lot to take in but I need..." Roman started.  
"Don't worry," Dean cut him off. "I won't tell a soul. You gotta sit down with me one of these days though and explain it all again."  
"I will," Roman said. "I promise I'll try. I don't understand it myself but I love her and I won't let anyone take her away from me."  
"Just keep her from killing," Dean again felt how stupid his words sounded.  
"I will. I have so far," Roman said.

Dean swallowed hard. If he hadn't followed Roman there the night before and stopped him, she wouldn't have taken six lives within a day. He felt so guilty.

"Roman..." He whispered.  
"No, Dean, don't blame yourself. You didn't know," Roman seemed to read his mind.

Suddenly Dean felt relieved that the motel kept things off the record. No one could prove he had been there and since he had paid with cash both at the gas station and the diner, no one could put him in those two places either.

He looked at Roman again and saw how his friend focused on his sleeping girlfriend. He was stroking her hair and holding her. The situation was anything but perfect, he couldn't even describe it as good, but if Roman was happy, he wouldn't do anything to ruin it.

"I'm gonna go," he said.  
"Okay," Roman smiled a little. "Thanks again."  
"You take care of her," Dean said.  
"I will," Roman said. "I always will."


End file.
